Rahman's 3D World Tour started in 2005 but somehow never made it to Toronto (or may be North America) till now, due to earlier cancellations and later date problems. In a way the delay was good that now it had so many Guru (and other new films including RDB & Yuva) songs. Of course, "Dil Se Re" "Chanda Re Chanda Re" & "Chhaiyya Chhaiyya" were still there.

After seeing the show, must say, nothing else (Indian shows) so far that I had seen (I have seen some $ 100 ticket shows), comes even close. Worth much more than the ticket price.

I and family really enjoyed the show even though half the content was in languages I don't understand. In songs from films that were also made in Tamil/ Telugu, there was seamless switching between Hindi & non-Hindi.

Audio was loud, but not too loud, in the beginning and it kept on getting louder and thunderous as the show progressed. I wish that max sound was used from the beginning.

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As I bought the tickets remotely, I didn't get any flyers or promotional material for the show. Also, google search is not showing me any useful links for this show. Can anyone pl give further details on Rahman's Troupe, including his band. Who is the Drummer ??
Calling on Aarkayne.
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Is there an earlier link on this topic ??

Information on the troupe

The amazing Sivamani is the drummer.

we watched the show in Chicago last weekend. Except for the sound(which sucked big time) the songs, the energy and the material was awesome. If someone can assure me of great acoustics next time, I will go again.

However a question for people who did attend the show in Chicago. Who was the singer that did the Maiyya Maiyya song? Man was she a looker and performer. If she is coming again, I am going for sure

BTW her name is NOT in the list of performers posted above (I have been trying to get her name now since last Saturday).

THanks for any pointers.

All AR shows RSVP had been acoustics/lights..if you lack those, not worth imho

Thanks DragunR2 for the informative link.
Any further info ??

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I found the sound awesome. I'm no expert to judge acoustics but I felt no muzzling, echoing
etc, despite extremely loud sounds.
The concert was in a NHL stadium and concert seating was at least 15000. Most of the seats are in the stands (many are floor seating as well). If you get seat in the stands, obviously it's off center. Stand seatings in front will be a mile away. I don't know how the acoustics are in the stands ?? I had the floor seating (center seating).

The sound Engineer and the console was what it's supposed to be for a concert like this. But, mind you, Sound controls/ console/ engineer are on the floor, half way thru the hall. Obviously, best sounding seat is where the sound engineer is.

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IMHO, for a concert/ show like this, be prepared to spend upwards of $ 500, for a family of 4 and you won't regret it. I'm saying that despite half the show being in Tamil that I don't understand. (No glamor film stars lip synch to attract crowds; you get the real original artists instead)

We had center seating as well. This concert was at the Sears Center and they were coming to Chicago for the very first time hence no big concert experience for the organisers. The stage which should have been in the center of the arena was pushed towards the far end of the arena (to obviously accomodate more people - terribly desi attitude). This cramped the stage space and the dancers hardly had room to move about. The speakers would go off of the main singers every once in a while. AR Rahman even winced once or twice (images were being beamed on big projection screens) when this happened. The sound engineers were right behind us so technically we were hearing the best sound in the stadium and that was poor overall.

Nevertheless we enjoyed it thanks to Sukhvinder's awesome energy, Sivamani's astounding percussion prowess and ofcourse that unknown singer's Maiyya Maiyya rendition. man was she a bomb

It was the same set up in Toronto as well. But, as the stadium was big, there was no shortage of stage space. Farthest seats do have a value. They were the cheapest @ $ 30. I think the show was sold out as I noticed many seats filling up, later on (perhaps last minute current box office ??) from where 80% of the stage was not visible.



That's too bad and in-excusable. When you spend upwards of $ 100 per ticket, this is not acceptable. Luckily, in Toronto, no such bad experience.



In Toronto concert, I saw (from the floor seating) just two large screens on the stage that were active, but only before the show. There must have been more large screens every here and there for very far seats ?? Stage screens were not visible during the show as the full wall, left to right and floor to ceiling was choreographed lighting show, with the music. Plus fireballs and fireworks.



I must admit, I did not catch all the lyrics as many were in non-Hindi. Can you give a bit more on this song ?? Was it a Chhaiyya Chhaiyya tune ??
BTW, Sukhvinder CD has Chhaiyya Chhaiyya song as well as "Thaiyya Thaiyya" song that either was made up by Sukhvinder or may be was the orig before Chhaiyya Chhaiyya ??

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BTW, Isn't Rang De Basanti song originally sung by Daler Menhdi ?? This song was sung by that Rajasthani singer (Muslim name, traditional Rajasthani dress). Song sounded exactly Daler Menhdi voice. This makes me wonder if this and/ or other items were lip synch, playing a pre-recorded material ?? I'm very skeptical these days after witnessing cheater "Sukhvinder show" a few weeks ago (it was all lip synch using pre-recorded material and they got caught as the CD was rotten and kept on getting stuck) . No dis-respect to great Sukhvinder; just that "Sulkhvinder show".
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BTW, forgot to mention, Humma Humma song that got the loudest applause.

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Caution: For other zulmis going to the show, arrive early as there may be security check as you enter the hall. In Toronto, there was about 45 min wait outside the hall (no matter even if you had the VVIP seats costing $ 1000. Plus another 45 min to reach the last 1 Km in traffic). Perhaps for this reason, the show started exactly 1 hour late (had it started on time, we would have missed full one hour of the show, thanks to traffic and security checks - 90 min) and it ended in 3 hrs 15 min of which take away 10-15 min interval. As you said, in Chicago it was a 4 hour show ??

Mayya Mayya (from Guru) may have been sung by Maryam Toller, who sang it originally. She is from Canada and I believe she is of Egyptian origin.

If Maryam Toller was the one also belting it out on stage, she is one helluva a looker. But I doubt it since this woman also did side vocals for Ramta Jogi alongwith Sukhvinder.

Rana - Mayya Mayya from GURU. Sukhvinder did sing Thaiyya Thaiyya and Chaiyya Chaiyya. About 30% songs were in Tamil which was not too bad inspite of a lack of knowledge of the language.

We did pay upwards of 100$ for the tickets and the audio problems were simply terrible! Terribly unprofessional of the organisers. Same wait as you guys but not because of any traffic delays. We were in the hall on the dot at 8:00pm inspite of which the show started at 8:45p. It did go on for 4 hours however. The kids were tired towards the end. The last song was Humma Humma and Blaaze actually walked into the crowds to rouse everyone alongwith his security detail. Everybody was on their feet after this happened. Even Rahman got into the crowds however only amongst the 1000$ seat holders

Of course this was one of the high points of the show. I sure know the tune, but words I never paid attention to or knew that this song is titled Maiyya Maiyya.


Too bad, we missed on Thaiyya Thaiyya version of the song and other items due to shorter show. I have seen Sukhvinder sing this song 2-3 Yrs back but my family hasn't seen it. Other high occtane numbers that I would have liked Sukhvinder to sing were "Rabba Rabba Meein Varsaa (Monsoon Wedding)" and "Naach Meri Jaan Naach (Mujhe Meri Biwi Se Bachaao)" were not in the show. Perhaps because these are not A R Rahman music ??
Also, no songs from Jeans (A R Rahman music) either.



In toronto too, Blaze did make rounds of the floors. Not sure whether it was during Maiyya Maiyya song ?? Actually I don't think it was during Maiyya Maiyya song as I wouldn't have taken eyes off stage for that stunning performance and I do remember my "high 5" with Blaze.
Didn't see A R Rahman coming on the floor ??

Also, at the end of the show tons of balloons and confetty was dropped from the ceiling.
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They (a bank that has been advertising heavily these days) were also promising a free A R Rahman (new) CD to anyone who fills in a form, hands it in or mails it in later (name/ signature phone #, address etc).
Was it really free ?? You were signing away your permission to be contacted and receiving their promotional material from time to time.

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BTW, it's billed as a "Million Dollar Production Cost" and I believe it. But, is this Million dollar cost of each show ??, or a start up cost and each show costing extra ??' or is it one million dollar that promoters pay for each show ??

Wasn't she Madhushree ??


Rabba Rabba Meein Varsa sure has been in A R Rahman show. I just saw a promotional clip with Sukhvinder singing this song and A R Rahman and his troupe providing music.
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It sure makes me mad that they spend millions of dollars to organize a show, advertise as a "Million Dollar Show", sure spending days or even weeks preparing the stage, and then cut short the performance (3 hours in Toronto). Why not 4 hour show like in Chicago or even a 5 hour show ?? With all the excellent #s in their kitty, a 5 hour show would be more appropriate.

His name was Aslam Khan. He was terrific. It didn't sound like there was any lipsynching to RDB.



You weren't kidding about her. Bee-yoo-ti-ful

Hariharan was a little off from the music while singing Roja Jaaneman, but he was okay for the rest of the songs.

AR Rahman himself is not much of a showman. When he sings he mostly just stands there holding the microphone. Even Hariharan busted a move Shocked I don't expect ARR to be Michael Jackson or anything, but I wished he would walk around a little or something. I liked that they added some dancers now and then to add some variety.

Apparently ARR has been hearing new talents while in America. Two singers, one from California and one from here in Dallas, performed. They were pretty good, but the real revelation was a singer named Aslam Khan. He was an unassuming man who came out in a traditional Rajasthani outfit, complete with turban, and was terrific. He sang some sort of classical song (probably not composed by ARR, but who knows) as well as Rang De Basanti. I hope ARR has used him in Jodha-Akbar for some classical numbers.

Three singers, I think it was Aslam Khan, Sukhvinder Singh, and a white guy, did some classical vocal "riffing." I don't know the name for it, but it was pretty good. Doesn't my vast knowledge of musical terms astound you?

The bassist and guitarist riffed for a little in between one or two songs, and Sivamani had an amazing drum solo.

I was initially skeptical because I wondered how ARR's music would translate to the stage. Much of his music is a studio creation, with loops, effects, etc. A lot of the songs used a recorded orchestration, but there were live flute, sax, tabla, western percussion (not every song), and violins. It was interesting to hear the occasional changes and additions to the orchestrations.

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.php?rur ... iff_movies

'When Rahman calls, you go without asking questions'
Arthur J Pais in New York | June 18, 2007 17:03 IST

Though A R Rahman and Sukhvinder Singh have produced over a dozen melodious songs in such films as Taal and The Legend of Bhagat Singh, they have not been able to match the vibrant magic of their Chaiyya Chaiyya song in the flop film Dil Se.

They always look forward to working together, never mind how much pressure each is facing. "With Sukhvinder, I can compose a tune in less than an hour and record it even quicker," says Rahman, with a hearty chuckle. "We have a very good understanding, a rare kind of understanding."

The exuberant Chaiyya Chaiyya was the highlight of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced musical Bombay Dreams that ran for over a year and a half in London and for 8 months on Broadway, New York, a few years ago.

Last year, director Spike Lee used the original and remix version of the phenomenal hit at the opening and closing credits of his The Inside Man. About 30 million people saw the film worldwide.

The song has to be part of Rahman's stage repertoire. "I cannot think of a live show of mine without it," Rahman says. "Even if I don't include it in the show, I am sure the audiences will make sure that we include it."

Sukhvinder has not only sung for Rahman but also composed a few songs, especially for Deepa Mehta's Oscar-nominated Water. Mehta says she is looking forward working with Rahman after 3 films, in her next venture, the big-budgeted Exclusion featuring Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham .

"I am convinced he is the most consummate composer that I know of in the world," she says. "And though some people may think of his work as ephemeral, many of his compositions are going to be around for a very long time. His music comes from the characters and is an extension of them. I think he is the best .He is the most brilliant film composer in India today and is in such demand that he has altered his normal working day to begin at six in the evening and go through the night, so that he can compose undisturbed by producers' calls. He finds the character's sur, raag, rhythm... Reggae, folk, classical, he's got it on his finger tips. He's so cinema-literate. He can discuss Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata and Subhash Ghai's Taal, all in one breath."

Though Rahman works mostly at night, he does make concessions. "When I recorded the song with Bappi Lahiri for Guru, we got it done during the day," he says. "Bappi flew in from Kolkata in the morning, and a few hours later, he was ready to fly back home."

Singer Lata Mangeshkar worked with Rahman for the first time in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se and later in Pukar, Zubeidaa and Lagaan .

'Rahman is known to record only during the night time,' she said in an interview 2 years ago. 'But he records with me during the daytime... when my voice is fresh. I don't like recording at night. He made an exception for me. When an artiste shows such consideration for another artiste, it feels good. Aur kaam bhi achha hota hai [Even the work done is good]. Rahman doesn't take long over his recordings. Jiya jale in Dil Se was recorded in 40 minutes."

Versatile drummer Sivamani who performed for Rahman at the June 16 concert in New York has known the 41-year-old singer and composer for about three decades.

'Our association began when we both were really young,' he recalled in an interview not long ago. 'We had this band called Roots. We just make very good music together. He is a master of lai [melody] and taal [beat]. The recognition that I enjoy today is because of Rahman. There are so many talented people behind a film music score. I played for Illayaraja for very long, but my name never figured on the screen or the cassette cover. Rahman changed it all. He gives credit to every single member of his team for whatever part they play, big or small. That makes him really special. People came to know about me only because of him. I thank him for that."

Sadhana Sargam, one of the singers Rahman respects most and who has sung haunting tunes for him in Water and Earth, has said: 'When Rahman calls, you go without asking questions because you know it's going to be worth it. He's a reserved person and talks very little but he makes you give your best. He keeps a cassette ready, wherein he has sung the song himself and listening to it makes your work so much easier, he allows any number of retakes. If you've sung half a line beautifully and haven't sustained that in the other half, he'll retain that half and make you work on the other half. The result is magnificent. And Rahman makes his pleasure very evident when he likes something you've done... then he won't even be shy.'

Chitra, who accompanies Rahman in the current concert tour along with Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, and Sukhvinder Singh, among other singers, says that when Rahman plays a composition to her, she listens very carefully.

"I have known since I sang my first song for him in Roja, over a decade ago, there are layers and layers to his tune. Even a tune that may sound very catchy at the beginning has its own complex nature. And that makes working with him even more challenging. And what I love in him most is that he is very modern, but he also deeply respects tradition."

As DragunR2 clarified in the next post, ignore the following comment:
What do you make of this statement ?? Does it imply pre-recorded vocals for live concert??

Rana, that "AR Rahman in concert in New York" line is just a caption for a picture. You must have selected it when copying it. The point of the paragraph is simply that when recording a song, Rahman records himself singing it and asks the singer to listen to it before recording it in the singer's voice.